The Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, has called for the withdrawal of US special forces from islands in the southern Philippines, saying their presence could complicate offensives against Islamist militants. Duterte said the Americans still in Mindanao were high-value targets for the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf militants as counter-insurgency operations intensified. Barack Obama cancelled a planned meeting with Duterte at last week’s Asean summit after Duterte appeared to call him a “son of a bitch”. Another US official said there were only a “handful” of special forces in the Mindanao acting in limited liaison roles. Washington deployed special forces soldiers to Mindanao in 2002 to train and advise Philippine units fighting Abu Sayyaf militants in a programme that once involved 1,200 Americans.

Source: The Guardian September 13, 2016 02:15 UTC